Elevate Your Health Colorado Quitting smoking is a multi-step process

“Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.”– Anonymous

Juanita Redfield, MD, a board-certified physician who leads Kaiser Permanente’s tobacco cessation program in Colorado, believes the key to successfully quitting smoking is to understand it’s a multi-step process.  Most people who try to quit cigarette-smoking are not successful the first time.

Trying to quit and not succeeding means “you’re that much closer to quitting,” says Redfield. “Studies show you have to try more than once.  Many of my patients have tried to quit earlier, but then they try again with the right tools and support, and it works,” she says.

Some figures

Approximately 18 percent of all Coloradans smoke cigarettes, which is lower than the national average of 22 percent.  For those that smoke, about seven of 10 say they want to quit smoking.  The reasons to quit are plentiful – the most obvious is the increased risk for a heart attack. Smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the country. 

With such a high percentage who want to quit, and the troubling health risks associated with smoking, why aren’t more people successful at quitting?

Two big hurdles

According to Redfield, smokers face two monumental (but treatable) challenges: the physical addiction and the habit itself.  She says the first step is to make the decision to quit.  Making this decision stick requires a coordinated effort, with the right kind of support. It helps tremendously to play the odds, she says.

“Smokers can triple or even quadruple their chances at quitting for good if they address the process with multiple tools,” she says.  “There’s the physiological addiction and the behavioral habit.  It’s essential to approach each with equal importance.”

To vastly improve the chances at success, two major hurdles must be cleared:

• Physical addiction:  From the very first few cigarettes, the brain creates nicotine receptors that start the craving, which is the source of the addiction.  This continues to build in time, but can be tackled through medications.  To overcome the physical challenge, this helps:
  • Bupropion (Zyban) – a pill that blocks the craving.
  • Nicotine replacements – the ‘patch,’ gum and lozenges help provide nicotine without smoking, which starts the process of breaking the smoking habit.
  • Varenicline (Chantix) - binds to the nicotine receptors and blocks the craving, which helps with withdrawal symptoms.  It also blocks nicotine from binding at the receptors, so if you smoke with it, there’s no reward.
• Behavioral / habit: This is the second issue to address, but just as important as physical addiction.  Changing your behaviors also can help break the habit. “If going out with your friends leads you to smoke, then you must change that pattern,” Redfield says. “You need to replace those triggers with a healthy habit to help keep you on the path.” Simple solutions such as chewing gum can really help, or doodling with a pen or pencil to help with fidgety hands. Other solutions include:
  • Coaching – personal guidance is important.  Redfield says the more sessions with a coach, and the more intense, the better. Supportive friends and family can be vital to the success.
  • Additional resources – visit the Colorado “Quitline” at coquitline.org or call 1-800-QUIT-NOW (784-8669) to enroll in a free, personally tailored smoking cessation program. Kaiser Permanente Colorado also offers free Webinars and affordable classes for members and non-members.   

Positive numbers

The reasons to stop smoking are abundant, including these motivating facts:

• After just 24 hours, the oxygen levels in your blood return to normal, and your body immediately starts to heal.
• In just the first year after quitting, the risk of a heart attack from smoking is cut by a whopping 50 percent!

“There’s even more good news,” says Redfield. “The percentage of former smokers is more than 21 percent, which now is higher than the percentage of those who still smoke.  So, we have more people who used to smoke than those who smoke.  For those who still smoke, it’s a matter of making the decision to stop, and getting the support.”

For more information about smoking cessation, visit kp.org.